Out of the Woods
by Write-To-You
Summary: Caitlin and Julian get stranded in the woods, and are forced to rely on each other and whatever else they can to survive.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: HELLO! Let's hear it for a new Snowbert story!**

 **Recently, I feel as though the fandom has expanded quite a bit. New writers are coming and a joining our team to write Snowbert stories and spread their goodness to the world.**

 **If you are a Snowbert fan and/or writer, please come join the one and only Snowbert forum! We can talk Snowbert, give each other prompts, and, above all, FANGIRL LIKE NO OTHERS!**

Caitlin hated rain.

Caitlin hated camping.

Caitlin hated March.

So why she was riding in Julian's beat up black pickup truck during the middle of a thunderstorm, on March 14, to go on a camping trip was completely beyond her.

Okay. So maybe it wasn't _completely_ beyond her. It might have had something to do with her adorable, blond, British boyfriend, located in the drivers seat beside her. He had begged with his beautiful blue puppy dog eyes and it was literally impossible to say no to that, so here she was.

Lightning flashed over the trees, and Caitlin winced. Wasn't there some sort of precaution around being in the woods during a thunderstorm?

If there was, Julian didn't seem to be very bothered by it. He hummed along to the radio and grinned out the windshield, somehow still able to see through the sheets of rain hitting the glass and the frantically operating windshield wipers.

"So, have you gone camping before?" Caitlin asked, curling her feet up underneath her and sliding the AC vent closed. It was kind of a dumb question, because then he would ask it in return and she would be forced to tell him that she actually _hated_ camping. Then he would feel bad and his whole trip would be ruined because he would be so worried that she wasn't having fun.

"Yes, actually." Julian nodded. "My parents used to take me and my sister Emma ever fall. We would leave London and find somewhere to put down our tents, and then we'd spend a few days hiking and cooking marshmallows. What about you?"

"Um..." Caitlin stared out her window at the rain, thinking about what to say. "I went... once. With my cousins. All guys- and 6 of them. Not the most mature of groups."

Julian laughed. "I'm surprised that you wanted to give it another chance, considering now you've dropped down to _3_ , probably even less mature, guys."

Caitlin shook her head, smiling. "You guys are mature- and certainly more so then my 6 and 8 year old cousins were."

They fell into silence again, and Julian peered foreword. "It's really coming down out there."

"You're just noticing this now?" Caitlin deadpanned, shooting him a look.

He rolled his eyes. "No, I'm just commenting on it now."

He leaned foreword again, trying to see through the rain.

Neither of them noticed the turn in the road.

Caitlin let out an earsplitting shriek as the hood of Julian's truck slammed into a tree trunk. The entire car jerked foreword, and Caitlin grabbed onto her seat for support, her seatbelt catching and holding her back against the leather.

Air bags blew up in front of them with surprising force, and Julian threw his hands in front of his face as plastic puffed into it. Caitlin shoved her bag down as the car came to a metal-crunching stop, front bumper crushed and hood smoking.

Julian was out of the car in an instant, leaving Caitlin to lean back against the seat and catch her shaky breath. Once her heart rate slowed down a little, she slowly unbuckled and slid out the still surprisingly intact door.

Julian was standing in front of the hood with his hands wrapped around the top of his head. He met her gaze when she came to walk beside him, quickly getting soaked by the rain.

"How bad is it?" Caitlin asked quietly, staring at the totaled front of the car.

"Bad." Julian responded, rubbing the back of his neck. "We're not going to be able to get far with it in this state."

Caitlin reached into her pocket and glanced at her phone. No connection. She let out a heavy breath, dread settling over her, finely laced with panic. She took a couple of deep, calming breaths, and nodded. "Okay. Okay, let's get our bags. There's no connection, so all we need to do is keep going down the road. Eventually, we'll reach the camp and Barry can flash back to some sort of car repair and they can tow your truck."

"We're just going to... leave it here?" Julian asked warily, glancing at his beloved car.

"I don't think it's smart to split up if we can't text each other." Caitlin told him, laying her phone in the trunk as she picked up her giant backpack.

She was completely soaked by now, and took a second to root through her bag for her raincoat. It didn't do much to help her already-wet sweatshirt, but it would protect her from further rain. Julian did the same, and soon they were on there way down the barely-visible dirt path.

They walked for awhile, slogging through the muddy road and sheets of water streaming down from the sky. Occasionally, lightning flashed, lighting up the sky and giving them at least a little bit of visibility. Caitlin would have preferred to walk in the dark. She didn't think that they would get as lucky as Barry if they got struck by lightning.

After about a half hour, Caitlin's head began to droop. Her bag was back-achingly heavy, and her clothes were beginning to weigh her down. Worse, she was starting to get cold, even with her many layers and snug rain-jacket.

She looked up again for the first time when Julian pulled up short and looked around. They were surrounded by trees, and directly in front of them was a giant cliff face.

And no path.

Caitlin's eyes widened, almost comically, and she stared around her. "Julian. Please tell me you know where we are."

"I- I-" He broke off, his jaw clenching as he glanced behind him and then back at the cliff. "I know where we are. I think. All we need to do is just turn around and..."

After another 15 minutes of slogging through the rain, Caitlin threw herself to the ground. "We're lost. We're lost in the middle of the woods during a thunderstorm."

"I think now may be a good time to hit the Flash emergency signal." Julian commented, trying to smile.

Caitlin felt like kicking herself. How had she not thought of that. Feeling relief gush through her, she reached into her pocked for her phone.

Then her other pocket.

Then the pockets of her raincoat, and, unzipping that, her sweater.

Her phone was gone.

"Oh no." Caitlin began to frantically pat at her clothes, unable to give up on the idea that her phone was somewhere on her person. "Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no."

Her body suddenly went cold and Caitlin's eyes slammed shut. "I left my phone in the trunk of your car." She moaned, hopelessness washing over her. "When I got my bag... I put it down, and-"

"It's okay, it's okay!" Julian said hurriedly, looking like he wanted to hug her but didn't quite dare. "I've got mine, right here-"

He broke off, staring in horror at what remained of his phone screen. Shattered pieces of glass splintered across the front, and a large chunk of some sort of metal was stabbed deep into the front.

Caitlin stared at the broken device in horror. "How- what?"

"When we crashed... something must of broken and hit it somehow." Julian slammed his fist against a nearby tree trunk in frustration, yelling in pain and throwing his phone to the forest floor.

Caitlin hurried to scoop it up; even broken, it could be off some use and because it seemed that they were permanently lost it couldn't hurt to take all the resources they could get.

Then she realized exactly what was happened, and she slid down to sit on the wet ground, her back against the rock. "Oh my gosh." She whispered. "We're actually lost in the woods."

Julian placed himself beside her, head in his hands and looking miserable. "This is all my fault." He murmured. "If I'd only paid more attention to the road, or where we were walking, we wouldn't be in this mess."

Caitlin reached for his hand and then put both arms around him instead, needing his comforting warmth in her cold, wet, scared state. Julian pulled her close, hiding his face in her hair and letting out a shaky sigh.

"It's not your fault." Caitlin said quietly, after awhile of simply sitting and feeling the damp soak into their pants. "You couldn't see the road- or the path. At least your were paying attention. I was just following your lead."

"Exactly!" Julian cried. "So I should have been more focused and-"

She tilted her head and quickly kissed him. "Shhh. Less apologizing, more planning how we're going to get out of this mess."

They decided that more walking wasn't going to do any good, so they sat their backpacks down against what remained of the rock wall and took cover in a small alcove. It was a little bit dryer, and it felt like somewhat of a roof over their heads. Besides, with the lightning and thunder getting steadily worse outside, Caitlin didn't want to be anywhere near trees- trees that could get struck by lightning and burst into flames- or in a clearing where _they_ could get stuck by lightning.

Julian hugged her to his chest as they sat, listening to the storm outside. Caitlin never minded storms as a kid or a young adult. She would like curling up in a blanket and watching the lightning flash out the window, content to see the rain fall and have a sturdy roof over her head.

Now... not so much. Now she was stuck in the _middle_ of the storm, without any blanket or a roof to speak of.

Julian seemed to be just as scared as she was, even if he didn't say anything and kept a calm facade up whenever she glanced at his face. She could tell in the way he kept a tight grip on her; one that tightened even more every time a new rumble of thunder split through the sound of the rain.

Eventually, the two of them must have fallen asleep, because when Caitlin opened her eyes, the rain had stopped. She watched the early morning, thin sunlight come sparkling into view, and for the first time, the storm created something beautiful instead of terrifying. Water droplets shimmered on the newly-blooming buds, and a few birds were flying around, looking for worms.

Caitlin shifted into a more comfortable position, and the movement caused Julian's eyes to flutter open.

"Mornin'." He mumbled, letting her get off of his lap before he crawled out of their alcove and stretched.

Caitlin ached all over, her back sore from carrying her backpack all day, and the rest of her from sleeping in such a hard, weird position. She heard way to many cracks coming from her body when she stretched her arms around her head and let out a yawn.

The yawn was followed by a groan, as pain surged in. Julian gave her a sympathetic wince. "Once we start walking it will get better."

"I hope so." Caitlin moaned, trying to massage her neck without moving her arms to much.

Her stomach growled, and Julian raised an eyebrow. "Please tell me you have some sort of food...?"

She was happy to give him that, at least. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're in luck. I brought about 10 super-calorie bars in case Barry had to use his super speed for something and needed more food then we could give him. If we each have around 5 bars... we should be able to last a few days. Won't taste very good, but it's something."

Caitlin leaned down and searched through her bag, trying not to think about the fact that she would eventually have to put it back on her back and keep walking.

They split the first bar Caitlin came across, forcing themselves to eat slowly as they began to walk. At first, it felt like the bar had done absolutely nothing to sate Caitlin's hunger, but after she gave it a little more (admittedly uncomfortable) time to digest, she felt considerably more awake.

Her backpack was killing her, however. Caitlin wasn't used to rigorous outdoor activity, much less hiking all day with a giant backpack and then sleeping on a rock. She tried rolling her shoulders and shifting her pack to find a more comfortable position, but every place she tried only brought pain to a new place.

Julian didn't seem to be bothered- or, at least, he wasn't complaining. It was aggravating watching him trot through the forest like he didn't have a care or pain in the world, and she had to struggle to keep up with his pace.

After what felt like an eternity, but was probably only a few hours, Caitlin threw down her backpack and collapsed in near tears. Julian looked down at her with concern. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not _okay_!" Caitlin exploded. "We're wandering around this stupid forest for hours with no idea where we're going and no plan at all. My back is _killing_ me right now, and you're just storming ahead like an unbreakable robot with endless energy! I'm hungry and I'm cold and I'm exhausted and- and-"

Tears were falling in full force down her face, and she wasn't even sure if it was because of her backpack. Julian sat himself down beside her with a groan, and Caitlin leaned her head foreword into her arms.

Large, surprisingly dexterous fingers were suddenly pressing into her back, and pain exploded across her senses. Caitlin's fingers dug into the dirt, but after a couple of seconds, the pain faded into blessed relief.

Julian continued to rub her back for a couple more minutes, and Caitlin sagged foreword, practically a melted puddle by the time he was done.

"Sorry I freaked out like that." She said quietly after awhile, leaning back into his chest as Julian stroked her hair.

"Quite alright." He murmured, kissing her temple. "It's understandable. I should have made sure you were okay; let us stop for a break or something."

"It's not _your_ fault. I didn't say anything." Caitlin shrugged.

"You know, you were right about one thing." Julian commented abruptly. "Walking around without any plan isn't going to help us unless we're closer to civilization then we thought, or just really lucky."

He got to his feet and glanced around. Caitlin watched him, frowning. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that I'm going to put my old skill of climbing trees to use." He grinned, and started towards a tall tree. "I used to do this all the time, you know, in the oak in our back garden."

"You had a back garden?" Caitlin snickered. "With a tree in it?"

"Little rich boy, remember?" Julian smirked, grabbing the base of the trunk and beginning to pull himself up the branches.

Caitlin watched him with a nervous gaze. The wood was wet and slippery, and Julian was going way to fast for her liking.

He managed to get to the top without incident, however, and secured his arm around a branch, leaning out to get a look around.

"See anything?" Caitlin called, her neck beginning to stiffen up again from the awkward angle that she was tilting her head at.

"Not really..." Julian leaned out a little more, squinting. "There might be a house over in that direction, way off in the distance, but it's really hard to tell. I'll check the other side."

As he began to move around the trunk, Caitlin dropped her head, giving her neck a break.

It was at that moment when she heard the sound of wood snapping.

Julian seemed to fall in slow motion. Not the good kind of slow motion where you can move at a normal speed and either have really good reflexes or are suddenly a speedster. No, it was the bad kind of slow motion, the scary kind, the kind where you are frozen in place, only able to watch as something terrible happens.

Julian hit the ground with a sickening crunch.

He wasn't moving.

 **Author's Note: WOW! Cliffy on the first chapter!**

 **Soooooo... I don't really know what happened to Julian's phone. Like, I don't know where the metal came from and stuff, but let's just give it some creative license and ignore my plot holes.**

 ** _THIS IS UP TO YOU NOW._**

 **Please give your answers to the questions below in the comments section!**

 **1) How many chapters?**

 **a) Stop the story now b) continue for as long as I can c) (put desired number of chapters here)**

 **2) Longer chapters, quicker posts? Or shorter chapters, slower posts?**

 **a) longer chapters b) shorter chapters**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Hey, guys! Thanks so much for all of your input and help :) The general consensus was to definitely** ** _not_** **end the story now, and continue to do this length chapters or longer with slower updates.**

 **Works for me!**

 **I've been trying to do research on the medical conditions I include in this story. It's actually been quite interesting, and hopefully it will make my story more accurate.**

 _Julian hit the ground with a sickening crunch._

 _He wasn't moving._

The spell was broken and Caitlin snapped into movement. She sprinted across the damp leaves and fell to her knees beside Julian.

"Julian! Julian, come on, wake up. Wake up!"

She was just barely able to hold back from shaking his shoulder, worried that he might be hurt and she would only make it worse. Instead, Caitlin pressed her shaking fingers to his neck, holding her breath.

He had a pulse at least, even though it was alarmingly fluttery.

As she removed her fingers, Julian began to stir, opening his eyes and groaning as the light hit them.

"How do you feel?" Caitlin asked seriously, bracing his back with her hand and gently helping his sit up.

Julian rested his head against the tree, and his eyes fell shut again. Caitlin grasped his shoulder. "Whoa, stay with me. Keep your eyes open."

She leaned his head foreword, her fingers roaming over his head to feel for any sign of trauma. They both winced (though for different reasons), when she found a giant bump. Her fingers came away stained red, and Caitlin bit her lip.

She cupped his face with her hands, looking into his eyes. He blinked sluggishly back at her, one pupil dilated much smaller the the other. It didn't take long for her to sit down beside him with a frown.

"How bad is it, Doc?" Julian asked, trying for a cheesy smile, unable to hide the slight slur in his voice.

Caitlin attempted to smile weakly back, but it was mostly just a grimace, so she let it drop. "Well... bad news: You definitely have a concussion."

Julian groaned, letting his head flop.

"Good news- it's remarkably not that bad." Caitlin hurried to add. "With some proper medical care and rest, you should be fine in no time."

"One problem with that." Julian said, meeting her gaze. "Where is this said 'proper medical care and rest' going to come from in the middle of the woods?"

Caitlin let out a long sigh, knowing he was right. They had to find help and fast, or Julian could be permanently hurt.

After a couple more minutes of resting against the tree, they came to the conclusion that they should try to head toward the house that Julian had thought he had seen in the distance. It was a little bit risky, considering that he wasn't positive there was anything there, but since he hadn't been able to see in the other direction (and no _way_ were either of climbing the tree again), it was there best bet.

Caitlin grasped Julian's arm and helped him up. He held on to the tree for support for a moment, eyes squeezed shut.

"You okay?" Caitlin asked worriedly, watching his face take on an unnatural grey shade.

He took a deep breath, straightening up slowly. "Yeah. Yeah. I'm okay. Just a little dizzy."

They set off, there pace a little slower as Julian got himself oriented and tried to control the pain in his head down to a manageable level. Caitlin let him drink the rest of her water bottle, exchanging it with her extra from her bag. They had 2 more bottles- one of Caitlin's emergency bottles (she always came _very_ prepared), and Julian's.

It was more then you might expect from two people who hadn't expected to get lost in the woods, but it still wouldn't last them long. They would most likely run out of water before they ran out of food, but either way, they would run out of both much too quickly for Caitlin's liking.

They had to get to that house _fast._ If there was even a house to be found.

They walked for awhile without speaking, and managed to travel a good distance before Julian needed to take a break. He sagged onto a rock, rubbing his forehead, and Caitlin set down her bag.

"I might have something in my travel med kit that could give you some pain relief..." She offered. "The only problem is, it might make you drowsy."

"Honestly?" Julian gave her a heartbreakingly pained look, his eyes glazed. "I am willing to take just about anything to get rid of this headache."

Caitlin nodded, rooting through her bag and pulling out her neat, red med kit. She found medication in on of the zippered packets, and forced Julian to eat a couple bites of a calorie bar before taking the pills.

He downed it with a gulp of water, and passed the bottle back to Caitlin, who drank a little, too. As much as they needed to ration their supplies, the answer wasn't to get dehydrated. They needed at least one of them to have a clear head.

The two of them made it a little farther before they were forced to stop again. This time, it was Caitlin who suggested it, seeing as Julian couldn't walk in a straight line without her assistance.

She placed down her backpack and began to pull out a few items. The night before, they had been pressed for time and shelter, and neither of them had been thinking correctly, but now Caitlin had a plan. She had a perfectly good sleeping bag and an extra blanket in her bag and she might as well use them.

Julian, as it happened, had an emergency space blanket and a sleeping bag of his own. He helped her stretch out both of them, and then they cleared out an area for a fire. With luck, someone would see the smoke and come to check it out. There had to be park rangers _somewhere_ , right?

Caitlin went to look for sticks as Julian got comfortable on the ground. She didn't go far, paranoid that she would get lost and then Julian would be stuck on his own with a concussion and some possibly unclear thinking.

Caitlin came back to their camp once she had a bundle of what she saw as suitable sticks. She hadn't had much practice (or really, any) at making fires, but Julian seemed to understand that and took the wood from her.

It didn't take long for him to make a sort of fire structure, but then he sat back. "We're going to need tinder. All this stuff is too wet to light."

"Tinder...?" Caitlin frowned at him, unsure.

"Something dry and light. Something that will catch easily." Julian explained, looking like he wanted nothing more then to just curl up and pass out.

"I have a journal in my bag." Caitlin offered, turning around to grab it. "We could rip out a few pages from the back and use that."

She wasn't particularly keen on using her journal as tinder, but Caitlin figured it was a life-or-death situation and she could buy a new one at the store any day of the week. She tore out a few pages and handed them to Julian, who ripped them up and stuffed them into the sticks.

The fire lit in moments, hissing on the wet wood and turning Caitlin's paper into crumbly black ashes that lifted up and floated away.

Julian slumped back against a rock, wrapping the blanket around himself and shutting his eyes. Caitlin let him this time, sitting back on her heels. She poked the fire with a stick and added a little more wood to it, before looking back at Julian. Maybe it was the firelight and ever-lengthening shadows, but he looked even more pale the usual- even more then after his fall.

She let out a sigh, shivering and moving closer to the fire. It was only early March and it still hadn't warmed up much. With the sun gone the air around began to get colder and colder. Caitlin found herself glancing enviously at Julian's blanket as she shivered for the umpteenth time.

His eyes flitted open, and he caught her glance, smiling. "We can share." He offered, opening up his fleece-covered arms invitingly and motioning to her to climb in.

She crawled around the fire and curled up next to him. Tucked between his arm and his chest, the blanket soft around her legs, warmth began to seep into her bones. Caitlin shut her eyes, not realizing until now how tired she was.

"Hey, Julian?" Caitlin asked after the silence had stretched on for a few minutes.

"Mm?" She could feel him shifting underneath her as he tried to get comfortable, knowing as well as she did that they wouldn't be moving that night, even if they would wake of just as sore as the past morning.

"Do you think they're going to find us?"

He was quiet for a little bit, absentmindedly playing with her hair with the hand draped over her shoulder.

"Yeah." He said finally. "I think they will."

"And if they don't?" She pressed, needing to be prepared for anything and also needing to know if he had a better plan then she did if the worst did come about. Considering her plan was pretty much non-existent, it wouldn't be hard to top.

"If they don't find us, we can become well-versed woods dwellers and learn to live of the land." Julian grinned, and Caitlin giggled against his chest. "And if we can't do that _,_ then I would rather be lost in the woods with you then anyone else in the world."

She could feel her blush creeping along her cheeks, and she sighed happily. "Yeah. You too."

Then she paused. "Well, actually, I think I'd rather Cisco."

Julian pulled back and around so that he could see her face. "Excuse me?"

Caitlin laughed again, tugging him back to her side. "I think I'd rather Cisco. He could just open a breach and we would be back at STAR Labs in a second." She leaned into his chest again as he relaxed a little and moved back against the rock. "I mean, I guess Barry could just flash me back home. And Jesse. And Wally."

"Iris would be pretty useless, though." Julian said, sounding pleased with himself.

"Julian!" Caitlin scolded, swatting at his chest. "Don't be rude."

"You deserve it." Julian huffed. "For thinking that you'd pick Cisco over me."

"Fine, Mr. Jealous." Caitlin rolled her eyes. "Powers aside, I would pick you a million times over."

Julian nodded, satisfied. "Good."

They left it at that, and Caitlin watched the fire spark and slowly die as her eyes grew heavy and she began to drop off. She felt Julian's chest rising and falling, slowing down as he, too, fell asleep.

She awoke sometime when the moon was high up in the sky. The clouds had washed away, leaving everything clear and bright and cold.

Caitlin gently moved away from Julian, needing to use the bathroom before she went back to sleep. She walked a little ways into the woods, glancing over her shoulder every few steps to try and keep their camp in sight.

It was on one of those glance-backs that her foot found open air instead of dirt.

Caitlin wheeled her arms for a few seconds, struggling with her balance, before she teetered and fell down the steep hill in front of her with a scream. She rolled across dirt, deteriorating leaves and sticks, and finally came to a painful halt against a large tree trunk.

Caitlin flopped onto her back with a groan, feeling just about every part of her body that shouldn't ever be felt. She sat up after a few minutes, rubbing her back and clambering to her feet so that she could use the bathroom and get back to Julian.

Her right forearm twinged, and Caitlin reached over to rub it as she began to climb up the hill. Her hand found sticky, warm wetness and Caitlin yanked it back with a gasp. She peered at her palm, unable to see anything in the dark, and dove into a nearby patch of moonlight.

Her entire hand, and her forearm, was covered in blood, the shirt sleeves of her many layers torn around her gashed skin. Caitlin swallowed hard and looked closer. It was just to _dark_ to see much of anything, but the sight of the wound had her panicking and stumbling up the hill at a much faster pace.

When she reached the fire, Julian was up and awake, using a tree for support and calling her name. She burst through the trees and he caught her shoulders. "Caitlin! I heard you scream- what happened? Are you hurt?"

" _Yes_ , Julian, my arm, it's too dark to see what happened." Caitlin gasped out, feeling blood tricking down her wrist and dripping off her hand.

Julian moved as soon as he registered her statement, ripping out another piece of journal paper and restarting their fire faster then he thought was possible. Caitlin kneeled next to it, stripping off a few of her layers so she could roll up her sleeve and get a better look.

The cut wasn't as bad as she had thought it was, but it was long and jagged and deep enough to set blood dripping down her arm. Caitlin took a deep breath, less panicky now that she could make a proper diagnosis.

She had Julian get to med kit for her, and took out a piece of gauze and a large bandaid. After a few minutes, her arm was wrapped and the blood was cleaned off of her hand, wrist and elbow. Her clothes would be permanently stained, but Caitlin found she didn't care that much.

Now that her adrenaline was gone, she felt the cold air starting to seep though her thin shirt and exhaustion begin to set in. She slowly put back on her fleece and jacket and joined Julian in laying back down.

They both got into their sleeping bags this time, laying close together with the blanket draped over them and the fire cracking at their backs. Julian's lips pursed, and he gave her a serious look.

"You scared me." He murmured, rubbing his thumb along her bandaged arm.

"Sorry." Caitlin whispered back, moving a little closer. "I suppose it's payback for this morning."

Julian winced, giving her a sympathetic look. "Sorry about, you know, passing out on you."

"Wasn't your fault." Caitlin smiled. "You had just fallen out of a tree."

Julian laughed. "Fair point."

He tugged her closer through the sleeping back and kissed her hair. "We should try to get back to sleep."

It took Caitlin a little longer to drop off the second time, her arm still throbbing softly and Julian's quiet rustling as he tried to get comfortable despite his headache keeping her awake.

Eventually, however, she must have fallen asleep, because when her eyes opened back up, the sun was starting to glow in the sky and the birds were beginning their wakeup chorus.

Julian, like the day before, woke up a couple minutes after she did. He squinted at the light, groaning and holding his head in his hands.

"How do you feel?" Caitlin asked, combing her fingers through his hair to check on the bump on his head.

"Like I'm totally hungover, but 10 times worse." Julian grit out, stumbling to his knees and swaying.

Caitlin caught his shoulders, keeping his steady while he regained his equilibrium. "Headache?"

"Yeah, no duh."

"Nausea?" She put the irritable attitude off as an effect of the concussion, not something that she did.

"Not yet." Julian let out a sigh and fell back off of his knees. "I could use some breakfast through."

Caitlin nodded, satisfied, and pulled out a granola bar from the front pocket. She broke it in half and they each ate, taking a few gulps of water to prepare themselves for the day ahead.

They set off into the woods, hoping that they were continuing in the correct direction. It was hard to tell without a compass or a map, but Caitlin couldn't think of much else they could do. It was either keep walking and try to save themselves, or stay in the same place and just... wait.

She would rather keep moving, and put their fate in their hands, instead of the luck of their friends. Still, Caitlin couldn't help wondering how long they could last. Already, their water was running low. If anything, Julian was getting worse, and who knew what else was going to go wrong before they could find someone to help them.

Caitlin glanced at the sky. The sun had finally shown it's face, the clearness from the night before holding strong. There wasn't a cloud that Caitlin could see, which had it's pros and cons. It might not be as cold, but with the sun beating down it wouldn't take them long to get thirsty.

Caitlin thought she would rather be cold, because they were down to one and a half water bottles and she was beginning to get seriously concerned.

She placed a hand on Julian's arm to help him up the incline in front of them, and when they came over the rise, her face broke into a grin.

"Julian..." Caitlin breathed. "Look. It's a road."

 **Author's Note: OOOOOh HOOO! They found a road! Don't worry, though, it's not over yet. There's still a ways to go- this is only the second chapter, after all.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I'm** ** _so_** **excited for this chapter! I've been waiting for it FOREVER... it's gonna be great :)**

 _She placed a hand on Julian's arm to help him up the incline in front of them, and when they came over the rise, her face broke into a grin._

 _"_ _Julian..." Caitlin breathed. "Look. It's a road."_

Julian almost fell down the hill in his haste to get down it. He whipped around with a large grin on his face. "We found it. A road. Caitlin, we're gonna get out of here!"

She let out a squeal and darted down the hill, throwing her arms around him. Julian spun her around and hugged her tightly.

After their rejoicing calmed down a little, Julian grabbed her hand and they began to walk down the road. It was small and narrow, more a path then anything else, just dirt but clearly a path in the sea of molding leaves that covered most of the forest floor. It curved into the distance, and Caitlin couldn't see where it led. Either way, it would bring them _somewhere_ useful.

The wind around them was starting to pick up, and Julian glanced around nervously. "Keep you eyes open, okay? Wind like this, in the woods... you have one large, loose stick and it comes crashing down..."

"I'll keep that in mind." Caitlin murmured, moving a little closer to the center of the path, as if that would help.

She found Julian's hand slipping into her's, and she smiled up at him. She was exhausted and hungry and thirsty, but for the millionth time she was reminded how grateful she was that it was _him_ she exhausted and hungry and thirsty with.

Partially down the path, a small stream started up. Caitlin and Julian exchanged glances, and then both of them ran for it.

"I don't care _how many germs are in this river_." Caitlin stated, tugging out her water bottle, and following the stream up its bank until it began to widen. "I am filling up these bottles and drinking them. All of them."

Julian laughed, following her lead in chugging down some much needed water and refilling his bottle. "Can't believe I'm saying this, but for two people stuck in the woods, we are getting pretty darn lucky." He walked down the bank a little farther, following the water. "It gets pretty deep up there. Wonder if it leads somewhere?"

"I'd rather take my chances with the path." Caitlin said. "But, hey, if you want to use it to take a bath, it certainly looks deep enough."

Julian gave her a disbelieving look, shaking his head. "I think not. It's _freezing_."

"That's what happens in March, I suppose." Caitlin smiled, shrugging. "Just be careful around the edge. We don't need anyone falling in and getting hypothermia."

"Duly noted." Julian nodded, dropping to his knees and splashing some water on his face. He shuddered, and quickly wiped it off. "Okay! I am tired no longer."

Caitlin giggled, splashing some water on her own face. It was icy cold, and she was instantly more alert. She leapt to her feet, grabbing her water bottles from where they rested in the dirt and stuffing two of them in her bag. "We should keep moving."

They kept going down the path, watching the trees sway in the wind and hearing the creak of the trunks throughout the forest. Julian kept his hand in hers, even though her fingers were probably painfully cold to the touch.

Caitlin peered into the distance, a glint of what looked like aluminum catching her eye. She tugged Julian a little faster, and they rounded one more corner.

There was a cabin nestled in the woods.

"Oh my gosh." Caitlin breathed, stumbling foreword. "This is it. We did it."

They broke into a run, reaching the door in moments. Julian fought with the handle. "It's locked." He growled, cursing and kicking at the wood.

Caitlin glanced around quickly, motioning for him to back up and grabbing a tree branch, downed by the wind, from the ground. She wound up and slammed it into the window that was next to the door.

It shattered easily, little shards of glass flying in all directions. Julian held his hands protectively in front of his face, and Caitlin flinched backwards, her shoulder sore from impact, but still grinning.

"That was admittedly really fun." She said, shooting him a weak smile and carefully avoiding the spikes of glass remaining in the frame as she struggled through the window.

There was no one inside- which was probably good, considering that people who live in the woods tend to have guns, and a gun would be a very good thing to use when someone had just broken your window with a tree branch.

Once Caitlin was through the window, she unlocked the door to let Julian in. He didn't stay long, saying something about going to check out the shed a little ways away from the cabin.

The room was mostly abandoned, and it didn't look like anyone had lived there for quite awhile. The fireplace was swept clean, and the bed frame was completely empty save for a thin, ratty mattress that looked like it hadn't been cleaned or slept on in years. There were a few cupboards and a tiny kitchen (also empty), and a small desk with an old fashioned dial-phone.

 _An old fashioned dial-phone_.

Caitlin's eyes snapped back to the phone and she ran for it. "Julian! There's a phone."

She could hear him whooping outside and bit back a grin. "That's great!" He called back, leaning carefully though the window. "Call STAR Labs and Cisco can track the call or something."

Caitlin nodded, that having been her thought already, and dialed the number with shaking hands. She held the phone to her ear, waiting for the ring...

Nothing.

Caitlin tried again, dialing the number and listening in the phone.

Still nothing. Not a dial tone or a ring or anything at all.

"Caitlin." It was Julian again, and he was holding something. A frayed wire, one that looked like it had been bit though by some sort of animal.

The phone wire.

"No..." Caitlin murmured. Then she slammed her hand into the table in frustration. "No!"

Julian let out a long sigh, coming through the door and slumping onto the mattress, rubbing his forehead. Caitlin took a deep breath, calming herself down. She had to keep a cool head, because Julian was hurting a lot more then she was right now, and probably wanted to get into a warm bed and eat some soup and have the proper medical attention and remedies for someone with a concussion. She really couldn't be complaining, even with her throbbing arm.

Caitlin let out a puff of air. She still wanted to complain. She still wanted to scream and curse the world because _what had they done to deserve this_?!

Instead, she sat down beside Julian and pulled his head down to rest in her lap, running her fingers through his soft blond hair. He all but moaned in satisfaction, burrowing his nose into her stomach and letting out a soft sigh that she could feel even through her shirt.

After what seemed like an eternity, Julian shifted. "We should keep moving." He mumbled from his hyper-relaxed state in her lap. "The road's gotta lead somewhere, right? The people who lived in this cabin had to be connected to civilization somehow, or why would they have a phone?"

It was pretty concussed logic, but Caitlin didn't have anything else to go on, and she was going to take any hope that she could get.

"Okay." She said, taking yet another deep breath and helping Julian to his feet. They both drank as much water as they needed (having a stream only a little ways away was definitely a perk), and pushed through the door of the cabin.

The wind had picked up even more, and the sun was on it's descending curve in the sky, the fast-moving river next to the path glowing rose gold in the sunlight, but they could still make it a ways before they had to camp for the night.

Caitlin and Julian began to travel down the road, but Caitlin kept herself from the usual zone that she had started slipping into whenever she was walking. She didn't like the way the trees were creaking in the wind, and there were a couple large, loose branches hanging near the path that she wanted to keep her eyes on.

But it was Julian who ended up saving them both.

A cracking filled the air above them, and Julian's head snapped upward. He whipped towards Caitlin and shoved both of them off the road.

Caitlin stumbled away as the branch came crashing down. She slipped, grasping for trees or bushes or Julian or _anything_ that could stop her rapid progress toward the churning river water.

Julian grabbed at her backpack, and for one brief moment Caitlin was descended in between land and water. Then the un-adjusted, unbuckled straps slipped from her shoulders and she was falling.

Caitlin hit the water with a splash, her head going underwater in a fantastic display of how fast the river got deep. At first, she didn't even feel the cold, and then it rushed into her skin all at once.

She gasped, and water rushed into her lungs. Caitlin floundered upward, choking and coughing as her head broke the surface. The current pulled at her limbs, not helping in her goal of getting back toward the bank.

Julian was on his knees, frantically calling her name and extending his arm as far as it could go. It looked like he was borderline jumping in the water and swimming her to the bank himself.

"Grab my hand!" He yelled, but Caitlin's hearing was swirling in and out as the water splashed over her head. It was so cold... all she wanted to do was shut her eyes and give into the current.

A hand grasped her wrist and Caitlin struggled to bring her head above the water again. Julian was holding onto her, leaning dangerously over the bank and holding on to a tree to keep from tumbling in himself. "Grab my hand with your other arm, Caitlin!"

Caitlin's limbs didn't seem to want to respond. She was loosing energy and sinking fast, but she slid her hand through the water and grasped onto Julian's arm with numb fingers. Julian let out a groan of effort and began to drag her out of the water, Caitlin scrabbling at the bank with her feet once she got close enough.

They both collapsed into the dirt, heaving for air. Caitlin was immediately shivering, the wind and lack of sun cutting into her like shards of frozen glass.

Julian moved first, crawling to his knees and staggering over to Caitlin's side. He rolled her over and she started coughing up water as he rubbed her back.

When she was finished, a sort of leaden exhaustion settling into her veins. The world was spinning and she couldn't seem to force her voice to work.

Julian pressed his fingers to her pulse point, feeling it's elevated fluttering under his fingertips. Caitlin shivered again, even more violently, and Julian let out a stressed growl.

"C'mon, Caitlin." He murmured, rubbing her icy fingers together. "Come on, give me something here."

All she wanted to do was sleep, but she forced herself to move, struggling to sit through her shivering.

"We need to get you someplace warm." Julian said softly, pulling her into his arms despite how wet she was. "I'm bringing you back to the cabin, okay? I'll- I'll make a fire and-"

He knew by now that she had hypothermia. Her lips were tinged blue and her hands were ice against his, and she was unresponsive as he scooped her into his arms and curled her close to his chest.

Julian stumbled to his feet, keeping Caitlin with him, and grabbed her backpack from the ground beside him. He began to run toward the cabin. It might have been empty, but it was out of the wind and it had a fireplace and an enclosed area that could keep the heat in. It wasn't much, but it was the best Julian could do at the moment.

He reached the cabin door in record time, knocking it open with his foot and dropping Caitlin's backpack from his aching shoulder. She moaned in his arms as he set her down, using the mattress as her seat for now. He would move her closer to the hearth once he got a fire going, but the mattress would be warmer then wood floor.

Caitlin curled onto her side, breaking into violent shivers. Julian knelt beside her and, unable to stop himself, took a precious moment to kiss her. Her lips were like ice and she was barely responding and it _terrified_ him.

He forced himself to pull back, and Caitlin whimpered at the loss of the warmth.

"Juli'n," She mumbled, resting her forehead against his shoulder. "'M cold."

"I know." He reached out, rubbing her shoulders. "I know, sweetheart. I know."

Caitlin hummed quietly. It was the first reaction he had gotten out of something he had said, and he knew why.

Julian never used pet names. _Never_.

"Listen to me." He said quietly, tilting her chin so that her glazed eyes could meet his. "Okay? Focus on my voice. I need you to take off all your wet clothes and lay them out front of the hearth, all right?"

Caitlin nodded lazily, her eyes sliding to the floor and loosing focus.

Julian took that for as good as he could get, and darted to his feet. "I'm going to get firewood." He said, moving for the door. "I'll be right back; I promise."

He raced out into the woods.

When he returned, Caitlin was lying in just her underwear on the mattress.

She wasn't shivering.

Julian swallowed back his panic and yanked out the fleece blanket from Caitlin's bag. He silently thanked anyone who was listening that her backpack hadn't ended up in the water, too.

Racing over to the mattress, Julian dropped to his knees and sat Caitlin up. She slumped to the side, eyelids fluttering, and he wrapped the blanket around her shoulders. He kept the two edges in the front, trying to cover every part of her except her face.

Pressing a kiss to her forehead, Julian pulled himself away and turned to the fireplace. He proceeded to make the fastest (successful) fire of his life. It began to heat up the cabin, much to slowly in his opinion.

A gust of icy air burst into the room and Julian turned to the window. It was still wide open, completely broken. Julian let out a growl of frustration, and shucked off his coat. It was going to come off anyway, considering the best way to create body heat was skin on skin contact. Julian awkwardly hung his jacked on the frame of the window, holding it place by stabbing the cloth into the remaining spikes of glass. He had no idea if it would stay with all of the wind and it's precarious hold, but if worst came to worst, he could use the emergency space blanket.

Julian pulled off the rest of his layers, stopping only when all he had on were his boxers. He shivered, gently picked Caitlin up and moving her closer to the fire. He tried not to jar her too much, not wanting to put stress on her heart and send her into cardiac arrest.

Caitlin's body shuddered, and she pressed herself against his bare chest. Julian bit back a curse. She was _freezing_.

He unzipped both of their sleeping bags with one arm, keeping Caitlin curled into his chest with the other, and made a nest on the wooden boards of the cabin floor. After nestling Caitlin in as much as he possibly could, he slid underneath one of the sleeping bags.

He realized then that Caitlin was unconscious, and he pushed his panic down as hard as he could. She had started shivering again, even though the increments between each shake were getting longer and longer. He held on to that, listening to her slow, weak heartbeat and feeling her warm breaths brushing his neck. Julian wrapped his arms around her and pressed his nose into her cold neck, kissing her skin and trying to pass as much heat as he possibly could into her body.

Caitlin murmured quietly, nuzzling into his chest. Her frozen feet brushed his calves and Julian tried not to flinch. It almost _hurt_ they were so cold, and he reached through the sea of covers, trying to find her hands.

His body must have felt like a furnace to her, and as Julian tugged her numb hands to rest against his back, Caitlin began to feel a little bit warmer to the touch. Her lips no longer looking as blue and her shivering was beginning to calm down a bit, but in a more healthy, less hypothermic way.

The weight of the day and carrying Caitlin and the stress of the situation was beginning to catch up to Julian. He fought sleep for as long as he could, wanting to stay awake in case Caitlin woke up or she started to get cold again, but with the fire and Caitlin's touch sending waves of calming heat across his body, his eyelids started to droop.

It didn't take very long for him to drop completely off, arms curled protectively around Caitlin and his face pressed into her hair, as the wind howled outside and the fire crackled, sending smokes and sparks into the air.

 **Author's Note: Weeeell, for those who where worried that them finding a road would make their journey all butterflies and sunshine, here you go! I told you I wasn't going to make it easy on them :D**

 **HEY GUYS! YEAH, YOU!**

 **I NEED SOME IDEAS! I have a few for chapter 4, but only at the beginning and that's about it! So! It's up to you now- Tell me what you want to see in the comments below!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Chapter FOOOOOOOUUUUUUUR!**

 **Sorry. I just felt like saying that for some reason.**

 **Sorry this took so long to get up! As I said in the last chapters ending AN, I was a bit short on ideas. I got a good one, though, so I'll keep pressing on!**

When Caitlin woke up, she was nestled in a pile of blankets, so tightly she could barely move.

She felt sore, and her skin was tight and tingly, like it was just waking up from a long time being numb. A small, dying fire crackled in front of her, and when she turned her head to look around, she saw Julian in the small cabin kitchen, trying to heat up some water in an old rusty kettle.

When he saw that she was awake, his face broke in to a large smile. "Caitlin!"

"Hey, Julian." She responded, her voice rough. Her neck and back protested with loud pops as she stretched and rolled her head.

"How do you feel?" He asked, bringing the kettle with him as he hurried over to her.

"Better." Caitlin said, pushing herself into a sitting position. As she did so, the blanket dropped from her shoulders and she realized all she had on was a bra and underwear.

Blushing furiously, Caitlin yanked the blanket back up. "Um..."

"I'm sorry." Julian apologized hurriedly. "You had hypothermia, and the best way to heat you up was skin on skin contact." His eyes dropped, ashamed. "I would have asked your permission, but you were unconscious- I'm so sorry, Caitlin."

"It's okay, Julian." She reached out and rubbed her thumb against his cheek. "You don't have to apologize. You saved my life."

He nodded, throat tight. "I thought you were going to die. When you... when you passed out... I-"

"Shhh..." She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, and Julian sat down in their nest of blanket with a sigh, hugging her back tightly.

"If you want that water to warm up, put it by the fire." Caitlin told him as they settled back, her leaning against his chest. "You're not going to be able to start that stove."

"Fair point, Ms. Wilderness." Julian teased, sliding the pot across the floor with his socked foot so that it could heat by the fire. "I just figured some hot water would do you some good. I know we don't have tea or hot chocolate-"

"Coffee work for you?" Caitlin interrupted, fighting to keep her face nonchalant.

"Pardon?"

"Does coffee work for you?" Caitlin repeated.

"You have coffee?" Julian gaped at her. "You are seriously my favorite person in the entire multiverse."

Caitlin laughed. "It's in my bag. I brought coffee for when we woke up the first morning on our camping trip."

They waited a little while longer in silence, waiting for the water to heat up. After awhile, Julian forced himself up and grabbed the coffee from an enclosed bag in the front pouch in Caitlin's backpack.

They drank the remaining water in one of the bottles and poured the hot water and coffee grounds inside. The coffee was watery but it was hot, and Caitlin warmed from the inside out.

"How's your head?" Caitlin asked abruptly, turning around to look at Julian as he sipped at his coffee.

"Huh?" He frowned at her, then touched the back of his head, where his injury was located. "I hadn't really thought about it until you mentioned it. It hurts, I suppose." He shrugged, and gave her a sheepish smile. "I guess that carrying you all the way from the river to the cabin probably _wasn't_ the best way to take it easy."

Caitlin's eyebrows went up. "You carried me all the way from the river?" She whistled softly. "Wow. I'm impressed, Superman."

Julian's cheeks went a little pink, and he took another hurried sip of his coffee. "Well, uh, you weren't going to be walking. Carrying you was just faster."

Caitlin giggled, leaning up against his chest. "You're my hero, Julian."

"Well, blimey." He was definitely blushing now. "I am?"

She just smiled, nudging his leg with hers as she finished the last of her coffee. "We should probably get moving. We still have a road to follow."

"But no more dips in the river." Julian said, only half joking. "Promise me, please."

"I promise I won't go for a swim." Caitlin told him, rolling her eyes and getting to her feet. "Let's get going."

They gathered up the sleeping bags and their supplies, and Julian went to yank his jacket off of the broken glass that used to be a window. It seemed he was a little careless, because when he went to put it on, he found a few long tears across the fabric.

"Well." Julian sighed, looking at his ruined coat. "Let's just hope that it doesn't rain again, huh?"

They set off, Julian reluctantly wearing his torn jacket to protect against the chill in the air. He kept his hand in Caitlin, partially for companionship and partially to keep track of her temperature.

"You promise to tell me if you get cold?" He asked her seriously.

"I promise, Julian." Caitlin assured him. "But that means _you_ have to tell me if you need to stop or if your head hurts."

They made it a couple of miles down the road before they stopped to take a break. They were on to their 5th bar, having ate one with their coffee before they left that morning. Caitlin eyed their supplies. 4 filled water bottles, 5 granola bars.

"How long do we have before we die of starvation or dehydration?" Julian asked dryly, watching her root through her bag.

"I'd give it... 3 days, if we're smart about our supplies and nothing else bad happens." Caitlin estimated.

"So in other words, not long." Julian slumped. "And eating 1 and a 5th granola bars between the two of us a day is not exactly the best situation."

"There's nothing much we can do." Caitlin shrugged, swallowing the rest of her bar and taking a sip of this water. "We're on a road. That's something, right? We've got to come across something eventually."

They did, in fact, come across something. That something happened to be a massive pile of mossy boulders and a few trees.

Caitlin stared at the rocks in the middle of the road with an open mouth. "What _happened_?"

Julian frowned, stretching to reach the first rock and pulling himself over the mound. "The road just... ends."

"That doesn't make any sense." Caitlin argued. "Who would build a road to nowhere?"

"I don't know, Caitlin." Julian rubbed his forehead, and then punched the rock in frustration. He shook out his hand, grimacing. "But there's nothing over here."

"Maybe it just got grown over...?" Caitlin suggested hopefully.

Julian gave her a hand up, her legs too short to reach the first rock, and she hauled herself over the boulders to look on the other side. It just seemed to be a forest, as thick as anything on either side of the road.

They slid down the rocks to the other side anyway, and continued in relatively the same direction. It would be pointless to turn around and go the other way at this point. Maybe the cabin was so abandoned because the road had gotten blocked, and no one could reach it? It was hard to know for sure, but neither of them wanted to go back.

They walked for at least another hour until it started to get dark. Caitlin laid out sleeping bags while Julian took his turn looking for wood, and they built a fire together.

"Well," Caitlin said, leaning back against the tree and holding out her hands to warm them. "If this "trip" has been good for anything, at least I know how to make a fire now."

"I know." Julian laughed. "We're going to practically be woodsmen after this experience."

"Haha, nope." Caitlin said flatly. "After this, I'm never stepping foot in someplace that has more the 20 tress again."

Julian laughed again and they fell into silence, sleeping bags around their legs and watching the fire crackle. They shared half of a calorie bar, but Caitlin stomach was still aching with emptiness.

"One nice thing about getting hypothermia." She sighed, resting her head on Julian's chest and shutting her eyes. "I didn't feel hungry."

"I didn't either." Julian said thoughtfully. "Probably because I was so concerned about making sure you were going to make it through the night. Fear is the best food, I suppose."

"I will _not_ quote you on that." Caitlin teased, giggling.

Julian made a face. "Thanks."

They went silent again, watching the moon slowly rise into the sky and the first stars begin to twinkle. Caitlin felt her eyelids start to droop and she let out a large yawn, sinking down into her sleeping bag and shutting her eyes.

She awoke later in the day then she had been for the past few mornings. The sun was completely up and shinning down. It was already starting to get warm, and fog was rising around them from the mismatched temperatures.

Julian was already awake, stomping out the last small embers of the fire and packing up his sleeping bag. He smiled at the sight of her. "Hey, sleeping beauty. Nice to see you awake."

"You too." Caitlin murmured, still half-asleep.

Julian handed her half off of granola bar and she inhaled most of it, before taking a deep breath and slowing down for the last few bites. "We have to make these last." She reminded herself aloud.

"That we do." Julian agreed, rolling up her sleeping bag while she ate and sticking it in her backpack. "Hopefully we won't have to be so food-conservative for too much longer, though."

Caitlin raised her eyebrow, slinging her bag up on her aching back. "Yeah. I know what you mean."

They continued their relatively straight path through the woods, and by the time the sun was almost directly above them, they came across a giant, clear field.

Caitlin frowned, peering off into the distance. "What's a huge field doing in the middle of nowhere?"

Julian shrugged. He was already down to short sleeves, and she was sweating, too. It was a lot warming today then it had been the past few days, and she found herself thinking that she preferred the cold. She was almost done with her first water bottle, and she could imagine that Julian was in about the same position.

"Should we cross it?" Julian asked, setting down his backpack for a brief break while they decided their best move.

Caitlin followed suit. "I don't see why not. There must be something out there if there's this field. Maybe we can find a farmhouse or something?"

"Sounds like a better plan then just wandering aimlessly through the woods." Julian agreed, and they set off.

After a few minutes, Caitlin was regretting her decision. The sun beat down on them, full strength. After awhile, Julian stopped to take off his shirt. She eyed him enviously. "Guys have it so easy."

Julian gave her a sympathetic half-smile. "I'm sure we've got to be getting somewhere with shade soon."

Caitlin glanced around. All she could see was the swaying grass the the field, stretching in all directions. It was like an ocean, or Kansas or something.

They kept walking. Caitlin made sure that she was drinking periodically from her water bottle, knowing that with the heat and their exertion, it wouldn't be hard to get dehydrated.

After awhile, she noticed Julian wasn't doing the same.

"Hey, you should have some water." She told him, offering him her bottle.

Julian shook his head, giving her a smile and wiping the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand. "I'm not that thirsty, but thanks. I'll have some when we stop for the night."

"We should do that soon." Caitlin looked around, eyeing the darkening sky. "I guess there's not many places we can go, huh?"

"Whoever owns this field must have one heck of a job cut out for him with all of this land." Julian said, half laughing. "I suppose we can just put down our bags here. Maybe, if we're lucky, someone in a tractor will come by tomorrow and can give us a ride to civilization."

Caitlin shrugged, setting down her bag and all but forcing the water on him. "It's always possible."

They laid out their bags, and, with no wood to make a fire, just sat looking at the stars.

"It's kind of peaceful out here, you know?" Caitlin said softly.

Julian's hand slipped into her's as a response.

"If I wasn't starving." Caitlin continued. "And this wasn't a life or death situation."

"Way to ruin the moment, Snow." Julian smirked.

"Shut up, Albert." Caitlin rolled her eyes.

Still holding hands, they dropped off to sleep.

 **Author's Note: Yes,** ** _I know_** **it's kind of short. But it was either that or go a little bit longer and leave you guys in a cliff hanger! So you can thank me now.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: GAH! I'm so sorry that this has taken so long! Thank you for your excessive patience (which I'm just kind of assuming that you have :D) This is why I should never ever** ** _ever_** **post whump without pre-writing it.**

 **Now the excitement starts to pick back up again...**

When Caitlin woke up, it was only because a prickly piece of sawgrass was waving on her nose. She batted it away blearily, squinting up at the sun.

After awhile of just staring at the sky and watching the clouds and listening to her stomach protest for its rights, Caitlin found enough motivation to get up. She rubbed her eyes and picked up camp, waiting for Julian to wake up.

She took the time to inspect her arm. The bandage was soaked through with blood by now, but she hoped that the cut had clotted and she would be fine. She slowly unwrapped the cloth, wincing a little, and inspected her injury. It didn't look to bad, but there was an alarming amount of un-cleanable dirt in the corners of the cut.

Caitlin rooted around in her med kit for a moment, and frowned when she found that there weren't anymore lengths of gauze. Had she really only packed up?

Sighing, because it was really the _last_ thing she wanted to do, Caitlin used the old, bloody bandage and rewrapped her arm.

Caitlin glanced at the sky. It was late enough that she should probably get Julian up.

"Julian..." She said softly, shaking his shoulder. "Wake up."

He didn't respond.

Caitlin frowned, most-likely-irrational panic starting to slip its way into her brain. "Julian. Julian!" She shook his shoulder harder, and he flopped onto his back.

His cheeks and forehead were red and sunburned, and she probably looked the same way, but the rest of his face was looking quite pale, and it still sent her into panic mode. "Julian! Julian Albert- if you don't wake up this second-"

He groaned, and Caitlin slumped in relief. "Good God, you scared me." She breathed.

Julian sat up, and immediately swayed. "Ugh... I don't- I don't feel so good." He muttered, trying to focus on her. "Caitlin? What's- what's going on?"

"I don't know, Julian." Caitlin pressed her fingers to his neck, his pulse high and fluttery. "Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong. Do you feel nauseous? Does your head hurt? Are you thirsty?"

"Yes, to all of those." Julian groaned impatiently, putting his head in his hands. "I'm aching all over, and it's not like our walk was even that strenuous yesterday. Is it from the concussion?"

"No." Caitlin kept one hand on his knee and hurriedly grabbed the water bottle from her backpack. "Not the concussion. Okay, drink some of this- slowly, and only a little bit. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am." He muttered, taking a few small sips. "You going to tell me what's happening?"

"Yes." Caitlin said, slinging her backpack onto her shoulders and grabbing his. "But first we need to get you out of the sun."

"Yeah, good luck with that." He said irritably. "We're in a field, Caitlin."

"Then we had better get moving." She said sternly, helping him up and setting off as fast as she dared across the field.

She kept her eye on the sun and on Julian's dizzy, staggering, panting steps. After what felt like an eternity, she could start to see some trees in the distance. Trees meant shade, and shade meant that she could help Julian.

"Come on, we're almost there. Trust me, you'll feel better when you're cooled down." Caitlin reached over and pressed her hand to Julian's forehead, trying keep track of his temperature.

When they got out of the field, Julian collapsed against a tree, shutting his eyes tightly.

"Drink some more water." Caitlin ordered, handing him her bottle and rooting around in her bag for some spare cloth. She came up empty, and, with a sigh, grasped her own sweatshirt.

Julian's eyes flickered open in surprise as Caitlin ripped the sweatshirt into a chunk of cloth and poured some of her water over it.

"That was... interesting." He muttered as she folded the cloth and put it on his forehead.

"Just shush, okay?" Caitlin told him gently, ripping another piece of cloth from her clothes and applying it to his neck. "You're suffering from heat exhaustion and I don't want it to get worse. If it develops into a heatstroke you're going to need hospital-level medical care and I can't exactly supply that at the moment. I might be good, but I'm not field medic, and I only have a basic first aid kit."

"Okay, okay." Julian shut his eyes again. "I'll be quiet."

"Thank you." Caitlin reached around his shoulders and started to pull off his clothes, and Julian's eyes flew back open.

"What are you doing?!" He demanded.

"I'm cooling you down." Caitlin growled. "Take off your shirt."

Julian hastily complied, and she folded the material up for the time being. "You're going to be experiencing polydipsia -also know as excessive thirst- but I can only give you a little bit of water approximately every 15 minutes. Just try to focus on something else and cooling yourself off."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"By not moving and taking deep breaths." Caitlin said, though that wasn't really how it worked. "Just relax for a bit and I'll take care of you, alright?"

He cracked an eye open, smiling a little at her. "Of course you will. You always do."

Caitlin bit back a returning smile and rooted in her bag for her journal. It was no fan, but it would do better then her hands.

After about a half hour, the color of Julian's skin was beginning to return to normal, and he was trying to convince her that he felt much better and was almost completely cooled off.

Caitlin's arms were aching from fanning him and she was completely worn out- just like she was whenever she took care of someone medically. The act of not showing fear or getting stressed out always took a lot out of her.

Julian nudged her knee. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine." She said shortly. "How are _you_ doing? Really, actually, doing. No lying."

"I'm seriously okay, Caitlin." Julian said, sitting up with a groan and stretching out his muscles. "I mean, I'm sore and I'm tired but I'm okay."

Caitlin nodded, packing up the supplies that were strewn around on the ground and tucking away her ruined sweatshirt and the cloth that had once belonged to it into her bag for later. "Good."

Julian glanced at the sky. The sun was nearly in the middle by this, and Caitlin's stomach let out a growl. She pulled two bars out of her bag. "Eat this. All of it."

Julian gave her an astonished look. "Caitlin, is that a good idea? Our stuff isn't going to last much longer and-"

"Look, Julian." Caitlin said firmly. "You have a concussion and just developed heat exhaustion. I don't have enough supplies to change the bandages on my arm, which means it will get infected, and I was suffering from hypothermia just last night. Who _knows_ what's going to happen next? How much longer do you really think we can last out here?"

Julian looked down. He knew she was right.

They both ate their calorie bars, and for the first time in what felt like forever, Caitlin's stomach stopped grumbling.

They made their way through the woods, keeping the field in sight as they went, but eventually came to a large patch of thorny bushes. It was either go walk in the field again and risk Julian having a relapse, or make a right angle and cut into the forest again to see if they could walk around the briar.

"What do you think?" Caitlin asked after they had stood looking at the bushes for what felt like at least 5 minutes. She was sick of making decisions and wanted Julian to choose so that she didn't have to.

Julian shook his head. "I really don't know. I don't particularly want to leave this field, because I feel like it's our best bet for finding some sort of humanity and a telephone, but at the same time, I don't want to walk in the sun any more then I have too."

Caitlin frowned, considering there options. Suddenly, she had an idea. "What about this: We sleep now, just for a few hours. Then, once it's dark and the sun won't be a problem, we keep going in the field?"

Julian tilted his head. "Huh." He said, and set down his bag. "That seems like a pretty good idea, actually."

"Actually?" Caitlin said, giving him a teasing grin. "As if my ideas haven't been good all _weekend_. Come on, Julian, you'd still lying under that tree if it wasn't for me."

Julian went quiet. "Yeah." He whispered. "Yeah, I know."

Caitlin sat down, her previously teasing attitude gone. "I'd be dead if it wasn't for you, too." She said softly. "I'd still be in that lake."

Julian shuddered and wrapped his arm around her, kissing the top of her head. She pressed her face into his shirt, sighing softly. "Do you think we're ever going to get out of here?"

He shrugged. "I- I don't know, Caitlin. I hope so. But I just don't know."

Julian slowly let her go and they laid out their sleeping bags. It felt like Caitlin had just woken up, but at the same time she was completely exhausted.

She felt a hand reaching out an intertwining with her own. Caitlin opened her eyes a little bit and gave Julian a smile.

Then she re-closed her eyes and fell asleep almost immediately, Julian's hand still wrapped around hers.

 **Author's Note: Okay, it's so short, but I really wanted to post it because I just felt terrible about the amount of time I took to write this!**

 **There will be maybe 1 or 2 more chapters. I'm leaning towards two. I have a plan, and now I just need to execute it :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: SECOND TO LAST CHAPTER! I think it's going to end with a cliffy. Probably. Don't you guys just love me?**

It was pure luck that Julian woke up when it was still dark. They had no alarm set; no way of forcing their bodies awake before the sun came back up.

He rolled out of his sleeping back, leaning over Caitlin and gently shaking her awake. The moonlight on her face made her look ethereal, and Julian wondered how she still managed to be the beautiful thing on Earth, even after being stuck in the woods for the last few days.

Caitlin blinked awake after he had been staring creepily at her for a few moments.

"Morning, sunshine. Or evening, really." Julian greeted with a smile. "Ready to get moving?"

Caitlin groaned and threw her arm over her face. Then she rolled up into a sitting position. "Yeah, yeah. Let's go."

They pulled together their stuff and set off across the field. The night was completely clear, and there was not quite a half moon in the sky, giving them enough light to see by.

Julian kept his head slightly tilted back, looking up at the stars. "I don't know how I still see the beauty in all of this. You'd think I would hate nature by now."

Caitlin giggled. "I guess it's really where we belong, deep down, huh?"

"Back to the roots." Julian agreed. He let out a groan. "I cannot even imagine how many Facebook notifications I'm going to have when I get back on my computer. And case files to go to."

"Hopefully the whole team isn't dead or kidnapped by a metahuman." Caitlin joked. "You know they can't handle themselves without us."

"Yeah, the annoying parents of Team Flash." Julian said sarcastically. "They're probably relieved to have a break from our nagging."

Caitlin laughed outright. "Uh, hello? _My_ nagging. You don't nag. You're just plain rude."

Julian feigned offense, shoving her lightly in the shoulder. Caitlin laughed, pushing him back.

They two of them stumbled through the long grass, shoving each other and laughing. They finally came to a stop in the middle of the field, Julian's arms around Caitlin's waist.

"Why, Miss Snow." He said with a soft smile. "Can I have this dance?"

"There's no music." Caitlin pointed out, as he began to slowly spin her around.

"It's better that then I try to sing." Julian snickered.

The two of them swayed under the stars for a moment, and then Julian leaned down and slowly kissed her. "I love you." He told her seriously when he pulled back. "And if we never get out of here, I want you to be the last person I see, and the last voice I hear, and the last thing I touch."

"I love you, too." Caitlin whispered, kissing him again. "But we're going to get out of here, Juli-"

The moment was broken by the sound of a howl.

Caitlin and Julian both froze.

"There wouldn't be..." Caitlin trailed off. "Wolves? Right?"

"In the woods?" Julian swallowed. "Yeah. Yeah, I think there would be."

They both exchanged terrified looks. "Run!" Julian yelled as another howl broke the silence. He latched on to her hand and they began to sprint in a diagonal line across the field.

They made it a ways across before Caitlin yanked him to a stop, heaving for breath. "I can't- wait-" She collapsed into a sitting position on the grass, feeling lightheaded.

Julian, also panting heavily, sat down beside her. "You- you- okay?"

"Yeah." Caitlin shut her eyes and took a few very deep, slow breaths. "I don't know what happened there."

"You've been living on calorie bars for the past -what?- four days?" Julian said. "It makes sense that neither of us are going to have the same amount of energy that we usually do."

"Yeah, I guess so." Caitlin sighed, leaning her head against the ground so that she was flat on her back.

The howling seemed to have stopped, but Julian was still wary. He stayed crouched down, scanning past Caitlin and across the field. "They wouldn't come this way, right? They'd probably just stay in the woods."

Caitlin nodded hesitantly. "Uh, yeah. Sure. I mean, it makes more sense. Unless they... well... smell us."

"We should probably keep moving, then." Julian said, grabbing her hand and helping her up.

After a couple more yards or pushing through grass up to their knees, the field abruptly stopped. Caitlin pulled up short, staring at the completely transformed land.

"Is this... a golf course?" Caitlin asked in confusion. "Where the heck _are_ we?"

In front of them, there was a seemingly endless display of perfectly manicured grass, clipped and bright green, even just in the moonlight. Julian rubbed his hand over the bottom of his face, looking extremely perplexed. "How far have we walked? I can't seem to recall a gold course of this size anywhere near the city."

"Well, we drove." Caitlin reminded him as they started down the first hill. "So we weren't in the city when we got lost in the woods."

"Fair point."

Caitlin let out a sigh as they continued to walk. "How long do you think this field lasts for? I don't know much about golf, but those courses can be _huge_."

"At least we know we're somewhere." Julian shrugged, struggling to be optimistic. "A golf course means some sort of club. And some sort of club means people, wifi, a phone..."

"And a guard or security cameras or an alarm. And we can only explain the situation to one of those." Caitlin reminded him grimly. "I think we play it safe. If we find a building before morning or before it opens, we wait."

Julian's stomach growled loudly as a response. Julian winced. "I would have to agree with you, but I don't know if I can say the same for the rest of me."

Caitlin laughed. "I know what you mean."

20 minutes later and they had gotten down 3 hills and over 2. Both of them were out of breath, and the reddish hues of a sunrise were just beginning to show over in the East.

"I feel like we're not getting anywhere." Caitlin groaned, draining the last of her water and exchanging it for another bottle.

"I know what you mean." Julian said, sitting down heavily in the grass. "Snack break?"

"I don't see why not." Caitlin reached into her backpack and pulled out their last 2 calorie bars. ( **A.N: Don't know if that actually matches up with how many they started with... tbh I was too lazy to check XD** ). "Bon Appetite."

They munched on their bars and watched the sunrise. It was another weirdly peaceful, beautiful moment in the mess of the situation they were in.

"You know what I want as soon as we get home?" Julian asked. "I mean, other then a shower and some Aspirin."

"What?"

Julian let out a borderline-dreamy sigh. " _Pizza_."

Caitlin groaned and hugged her stomach. " _Yum_. Now I want pizza. And chocolate. And some tea."

"Sounds good to me." Julian agreed. "Pizza and chocolate and tea and grapes."

Caitlin wrinkled her nose. "Grapes? Why grapes?"

"Because I'm thirsty." Julian responded with a nod, and took a couple of gulps of his water. Then he sprang to his feet. "Alright, Dr. Snow! Let's go find our chocolate pizza tea!"

"Ewww..." Caitlin muttered as he began to tug her up the next rise. "Gross."

They made it over the hill, and both of them started to grin.

In the distance, across the wide landscape of perfect grass, was a small, squat building. The tin roofing caught the early morning sunlight, glinting into their eyes, and Caitlin could just barely make out a dark splotch of pavement signifying a parking lot.

She sagged with relief, reaching for Julian's hand. "We made it."

Julian beamed, starting to pull her down the hill at a much more energetic pace. "Chocolate pizza tea, here we come!"

They arrived at the golf club about an hour later. No one seemed to be there, so Julian and Caitlin picked a spot a couple of yards away and stretched out in the grass to rest.

"I can't believe we made it." Caitlin murmured wearily, resting her head against Julian's chest.

"Mm..." He mumbled in agreement.

"When someone arrives," Caitlin planned aloud. "We'll explain the whole situation to them and borrow their phone. Then I can call Barry or Cisco to come pick us up- they're going to have to do it the normal way, or whoever we take the phone from is going to get a bit suspicious."

"Just as long as we have food, I'm good." Julian said, grinning.

"While we wait," Caitlin continued, unable to wait in silence. "We can ask if they have any bandages for my arm or painkillers for you."

"Yeah..." Julian reached up, rubbing his head. "Do _you_ have any painkillers for me?"

"There were only a few, and you took two when you first got your concussion and two more later." Caitlin said with a sigh. "Trust me; if there were more I would be giving them to you. I didn't come prepared for us to get lost in the woods, so I honestly didn't think I would need that many meds."

Julian reached around her shoulders and hugged her. "Not your fault." He said softly, shutting his eyes. "Anyway, we're going to be home soon. Just make sure I don't have to go to any hospitals." He shuddered.

"Uh, hello?" Caitlin raised herself up on her elbow, giving him a look. "You've got your own personal doctor right here. All I need is STAR Labs' supplies and a little bit of time and you'll be good as new. Or at least on your way to good as new."

Julian smiled at her, and opened his mouth to respond.

Caitlin cut him off by sitting up abruptly. "Did you hear that?"

"What?" Julian sat up, too, hand dropping from his head.

"I think I heard-"

Just then, the sound got louder, and something appeared around the curve of the road.

A car.

 **Author's Note: Another short one, I know, but there's really only so much I can realistically pack in here :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: OMG last chapter! I hope you've all enjoyed, and thank you for all your support, even though I am literally the** ** _worst updater ever_** **.**

 **Okay that is not true. But I'm still pretty bad about it.**

Both Caitlin and Julian leapt to their feet and began to run toward the parking lot. The person in the car kept driving, but when he noticed them, he squinted confused. As soon as he had parked and gotten out of his car, he gave them a stern look.

"You two aren't supposed to be here! Doors open at 9:00 on Sunday."

He seemed to then noticed how bedraggled they looked, and backed up a few steps. "I don't have any money to give you, and you can't stay here. This is private property."

"Please." Caitlin begged. "Just hear us out. My name is Dr. Caitlin Snow and this is Dr. Julian Albert. We got lost in the woods a couple of days ago and have been wandering about without a clue where we are ever since."

Julian nodded. "If we could just borrow your phone to call our friends that would be wonderful."

The man looked unsure. "I- I think I've heard of you. Dr. Caitlin Snow... didn't you work on that Particle Accelerator thing a few years back? The one that exploded?"

"Yes, yes, that's me." Caitlin said with a breath of relief. "Where are we?"

"A couple hundred miles out of Central City limits." The man said, nodding at the road. "Head that way for about 2 hours and you'll arrive at the border."

"2 _hours_?" Caitlin gaped. "In a car?"

"Well, yeah." The man shrugged. "Don't tell me you walked all the way from Central City?"

Caitlin and Julian exchanged glances. "Well, we drove about a half hour before we got lost but..."

The man's eyes widened. "I think you two should probably come inside."

He unlocked the doors and let them in, and Caitlin and Julian collapsed into chairs.

"My name is Gregory Rounds." Gregory introduced himself, also taking a seat. "I'm sorry for thinking you two were, um... well, you do look a tad worse for wear."

"Don't we know it." Julian snorted.

"We understand, don't worry about it." Caitlin assured him quickly. "Is there any possible way we would be able to use a phone to contact our friends to come pick us up? Both of our phones are either where we left our car of broken beyond use."

"Of course, of course." Gregory hurriedly reached into his pocket and passed over his own cellphone.

Caitlin dialed Cisco's number and held the phone to her ear. She knew that her friend most likely wouldn't pick up, not knowing the number, but she would leave a message.

As she suspected, the call went to voice mail. "Hey, Cisco." Caitlin said after the beep. "It's Caitlin. I'm just calling to let you know that Julian and I are both alright. We got lost in the woods and both of our phones were out of commission-"

"CAITLIN?!" Cisco yelled in her ear. "Caitlin, is that you?"

" _Caitlin? Did you say Caitlin?_ " Barry said from the background.

"Yeah, dude, it's Caitlin! Are you alright? Is Julian with you?"

"Yes, and we're both fine."

"Where are you?" Cisco asked. "I can vibe over-"

"We borrowed a phone from someone at-" Caitlin paused, holding her hand over the mouthpiece and whispering to Gregory, "Sorry, what is this place?"

"Green Golf." Gregory reported, and Caitlin could have sworn that his chest puffed out just a little bit with pride when he said the name.

"Right, Green Golf." Caitlin continued into the phone. "Would you be able to _drive over_ to pick us up?"

"Wait, what? It would be- oh there's someone there, isn't there."

"Yes." Caitlin said, rolling her eyes.

"Right, right, Barry and I'll will be right over." She heard Cisco let out a sigh. "I'm really glad you're alright. I was seriously worried."

"I'll see you soon, Cisco." Caitlin said, smiling, and hung up. She turned to Julian. "They'll be here."

Julian put his head down on the table, and Caitlin patted his back. "You wouldn't have to have any Asprin, would you?"

Gregory looked contemplative. "I may have some in my car, give me just a moment." He hurried out, but right before he exited, he turned back to them. "There's food and drinks in the lounge if you two are hungry. I don't think we have much, but there may be some bread or crackers."

"Well, it's not chocolate pizza tea, but it will do." Julian spoke up from his arms.

Gregory gave him a confused look, then walked out to his car.

Caitlin almost immediately got up and turned on the kettle to heat up water for tea. Then she raided the cupboard and found a half-empty sleeve of Ritz crackers.

"Hungry?"

" _So_ hungry." Julian groaned, pulling his head up laboriously from his shoulders and reaching greedily for the crackers.

They ate nearly all of what was in the sleeve by the time Gregory returned with some Aspirin and a small med kit.

"I couldn't help but notice that your arm seems to be bandaged." He said to Caitlin, handing her the kit.

Caitlin smiled at him gratefully and carefully pulled off her soiled bandage. She winced at the sight of her injury; it was dirty and clotted with blood and a faint greenish color.

Gregory swallowed, looking a bit pale. "I'll, uh, be in the lounge."

Caitlin took the antibacterial wipes from the med kit and began to clean her arm. It stung and she gritted her teeth, gripping onto the table with her other hand. Julian glanced over from his 6th cracker. "Want me to do it?"

Caitlin considered, then nodded, handing him the kit. Julian cleaned the area as gently as he could and then dried it off with a paper napkin from the lounge. Then he took the gauze from the kit and wrapped it carefully around Caitlin forearm. "There." Julian smiled, leaning down to kiss it. "All better."

Caitlin rolled her eyes. "Thanks, _mom_." She teased.

What felt like an eternity later, where Julian fell asleep with his head against his arms and Caitlin stared blankly at the table, picking at a cracker, the sound of a car pulling up broke the silence.

Caitlin jumped up and ran over to the door. Cisco and Barry piled out of the car, looking around them in bewilderment.

"Cisco!" Caitlin called, opening the door and running out. "Barry!"

Cisco raced foreword to meet her and grabbed her in a huge hug, Barry not close behind. She was soon wrapped in a hug sandwich between her two best friends, all three of them smiling widely.

Julian poked his head out of Green Golf, looking blearily at the them. "It's about time you guys got here." He muttered grumpily.

Cisco grasped his in a bro hug. "Good to see you too, dude."

A half hour later, Gregory was waving goodbye to the 4 of them as they pulled out of the parking lot. Caitlin leaned back against the seat and shut her eyes, suddenly feeling dead tired.

"You guys want us to stop and pick anything up for you on the way home?" Cisco asked from the front seat.

Caitlin and Julian exchanged glances. "Uh..." Julian said slowly, grinning. "I could go for some-"

"Don't you say it-"

"Chocolate-"

"Julian..."

"Pizza-"

" _Julian_..."

"Tea!"

The two of them burst into howls of laughter. Barry and Cisco both frowned, looking back at them in concern.

"I'm kidding." Julian snickered. "But I _would_ like some pizza."

Once the pizza had been picked up and both of them driven to Caitlin's place (on her request, and Julian's agreement), the two of them found themselves on the couch with half-closed eyes, wet hair, and empty plates in front of them.

Cisco and Barry had gone home after putting the leftover pizza away and making them promise to call if they needed anything. Caitlin had given both her friends big hugs and seen them out before crashing on the couch and placing her head in Julian's lap.

In between bites of pizza, Cisco had done a quick checkup on both of them. Caitlin would do a better one on Julian, tomorrow at STAR Labs, but she figured that he had gone this long with a concussion and he could get by with just Advil and a good sleep.

That sleep _may_ just happen on the couch, because they were both barely awake and neither of them wanted to move.

"I feel very full." Julian mumbled, running his fingers through Caitlin's damp hair. "It's fantastic."

Caitlin giggled, shutting her eyes. "I love you." She said quietly.

Julian leaned down and kissed her forehead, before shifting them both into a laying position on the couch and wrapping his arms around her waist. "I love you two."

In the comfort of a very cushy couch, inside a warm house, the two of them fell asleep.

 **Author's Note: :D :D :D :D :D**

 **Comment down below if you think that I should get my act together and write a Christmas fic. (I don't know what that has to do with anything. Life. Banana. I dunno.)**

 **Aaaaaanyway...**

 **Happy Thanksgiving late!**


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